Soon
by OreoLine00
Summary: Oliver Wood has always loved Quidditch, but what happens when he has to choose between the game and his family? Is the fame and the sleepless nights really worth it?


Disclaimer: I don't own Oliver Wood. He belongs to J.K., who we love very much. However, I do own Sydney, Ben, and Emily.

...............................................

Oliver Wood loved Quidditch. He learned to fly on a broomstick when he was four years old. At that age, most kids don't even know what Quidditch is, none the less know how to fly.

**But Oliver wasn't like most kids. He was a prodigy. A Quidditch prodigy. He coasted through school being the best Keeper Hogwarts had ever seen.**

**So it was no surprise to everyone when he was picked up by Puddlemere United. It was no surprise that he was the youngest player in team's history, becoming a reserve Keeper at eighteen and starting Keeper at nineteen. And it was no surprise when Puddlemere won the European title three years in a row, all while Oliver was their Keeper.**

**But when Oliver met Sydney, it surprised everyone. She was a gorgeous girl with blue eyes and a beautiful smile. What surprised everyone even more was when the two decided to get married. It was a small wedding, guests limited to family and close friends. Small, but beautiful all the same.**

**Six months after the pair wed, the biggest surprise of them all was announced. Sydney was pregnant. Nine months later, she gave birth to Benjamin. He was a healthy baby boy and a spitting image of Oliver. Two years later, Emily was born. She was a beautiful baby girl with her mother's eyes and bouncing curls.**

**For the first years after the kids were born, things were great. He was always close enough to home that he could make it back every weekend and every day that he had off. But that didn't last long. The Quidditch Association scheduled more and more games, and players had been given less and less time off. **

****

**Oliver sat on a stiff bed that was topped with an ugly comforter. All hotel beds had ugly comforters, he had noticed. You tended to notice things like that when you slept in hotel rooms every night.**

**He noticed a Muggle telephone on the nightstand and immediately reached for it. He quickly dialed the numbers and waited for it to ring. **

"**Please be home," he muttered, sitting back against the headboard of the bed.**

**One rings. **

**Two rings.**

**Three rings.**

**Four rings.**

**He was about to hang up when someone picked up on the other end. **

"**Hello," a voice answered.**

"**Hey Ben," Oliver said, a smile coming to his face upon hearing his son's voice. His fifth birthday would be coming up soon, and Oliver hoped that he would make it home in time. **

"**Benjamin, honey, who's on the phone?" he heard Sydney ask in the background. **

"**It's Daddy," he answered. "Hi Dad!" **

"**Hey buddy," Oliver greeted his son. "I miss you."**

"**I miss you too, dad," Ben replied. "Guess what happened last night! You'll never guess."**

"**I don't know. What?" Oliver asked, laughing at his son's enthusiasm. **

"**I lost my tooth. And the tooth faire came and she gave me money."**

"**She did?"**

"**Yeah, and I'm gonna save it to buy something cool!" he paused. "Hey Dad?" he said, changing his tone. **

"**Yeah Ben," Oliver replied, noticing the change like he noticed the comforter. It was something that you couldn't miss. **

"**When are you coming home, Dad?" the little boy asked. "I really miss you a whole lot, and I think Mom and Emily do too. So when are you coming home?"**

**That broke Oliver's heart. He began to feel the lump in his throat.**

"**Soon, Ben," he answered. "I'm coming home soon."**

"**Promise?" his son asked. **

"**Cross my heart," Oliver promised. **

"**Okay big guy," he heard Sydney say. "It's past your bed time. Let me talk to Daddy, and you go upstairs and get ready for bed, got it?"**

"**Mom says I have to go," Ben informed him.**

"**Well your mother is a smart women. I think you should listen to her," Oliver said, gin on his face.**

"**Goodnight Dad, and remember, you're coming home soon."**

"**Yes, I'm coming home soon. Good night Ben. I love you." He heard the shuffling of little feet upstairs before someone else came on the line. **

"**Hello," Sydney said. Oliver had always loved the sound of her voice.**

"**Hey Syd," he greeted. "I heard the tooth faire showed up at the house last night."**

"**Gosh Oliver, you should have seen how excited he was," Sydney laughed. He loved the way she laughed. "He was running around the kitchen singing 'I lost a tooth! I lost a tooth!' It was adorable."**

"**I wish I could have been there," he sighed. "He's going to grow up hating me, Syd. Emily too. I grew up without my dad, and I hated it. I don't want my kids to hate me."**

"**They don't hate you, Ol," Sydney assured him. "Every other sentence out of Ben's mouth has something to do with how cool his dad is and how much he misses him."**

"**Yeah, well he won't be thinking that for too much longer."**

"**Enough of that nonsense, Ol. Your kids love you. I love you. That's all that matters, right?"**

"**Yeah..." he replied. "Anyway, how's Em?"**

"**She's doing fine. She's getting so big. And she finally started calling Ben 'Ben' instead of 'Bed'. She did the cutest thing the other day. Ben was trying to teach her how to tie her shoes and she accidentally tied them together. She got up and tried to walk, but she tripped. She didn't even cry Oliver. She just sat up, took off her shoes, and ran around the living room."**

**Oliver pictured his daughter laughing and running around the house the best a three-year-old could. **

"**I miss you guys so much, Sys," he sighed. "I wish so bad I would be home, tucking Emily into her bed like I used to. Or throwing a ball around with Ben in the back yard."**

"**We miss you too, Ol," Sydney told him. "But you're playing Quidditch. Maybe you can convince the league to give you a few days off."**

"**A few days to them is like a few years. The schedule is so packed. I played three matches today. Three matches! I'm so sore and tired, but I've just got to get up and do it again tomorrow in a different city. Then sleep in a different bed in a different hotel. You have no idea how old it gets."**

**  
"But you love to play, Oliver."**

"**Of course I love to play. But I also love spending time with my family. When Ben answered that phone tonight, I didn't even recognize his voice. I've forgotten what it feels like to hug you, to kiss you. I just don't know anymore, Sydney. Maybe pro Quidditch just isn't the life for me anymore."**

"**You've been playing in the leagues for seven years. Now you're having second thought?"**

"**I guess so. I'm tired of being away from my family for months at a time. I missed Emily's first steps. I wasn't there to bring Ben to pre-school the first day. You sleep in an empty bed, and the man of the house is a four-year-old boy."**

"**I know Oliver. You try your best. And whatever you decide to do, I'm sure it will be the right choice."**

**Oliver sighed. He stared up at the ceiling.**

"**I could take a nice job at the ministry. The department of Magical Games and Sports is always looking for people." He yawned. "I'm positive I could get a job, especially with my résumé. I could work for the Quidditch Association doing something. And it's not like we have to worry about money."**

"**You do whatever you think is right, okay baby," Sydney noticed how tired he was. "I'll let you go. You need to get some sleep. Call me when you get the chance."**

"**Okay," Oliver agreed. "We're going to Paris, I think, tomorrow, so there should be a phone in whatever hotel we stay at there. Tell the kids I love them."**

"**I will. You rest up. I'm sure you haven't slept in days," Sydney said, her motherly instinct kicking in. **

"**Hey Syd," he said after a yawn.**

"**Yeah,"**

"**I love you,"**

"**I love you too," she replied. "Go to sleep."**

"**Good night Sydney," he placed the phone back on the receiver and sighed.**

**  
"Jesus Oliver!" he said to himself. He glanced at the clock. 11:56. It was almost nine at home.**

"**I should be tucking my son into bed. I should be checking on my daughter. I should be helping my wife do the damn dishes. Oliver, what the HELL are you doing?" He loved Sydney more than anything, and Ben and Emily were his world. The three of them meant more to him than Quidditch ever would. **

**But Quidditch was his life. He lived Quidditch. He breathed it. He dreamt it. It was how he supported his family. The family that he never saw. The family that he was sure would soon hate him. **

**He thought about how things would be without Quidditch in life. It would be the first time in twenty years. Financially, things were great. They couldn't be better. He was one of the highest paid players in the league. He could quit now and still not have to even think about working for five or six years.**

**Not playing would mean more time at home. More time with Ben. With Emily. With Sydney. He'd be able to coach a peewee Quidditch team. Ben would soon be old enough to play. **

'**I could teach him to be a wicked Keeper,' he thought.**

**He could teach Emily to read. He had practically missed the first three years of her life. That was three too many. He wouldn't miss any more.**

**He would be able to fill the empty space Sydney slept beside every night. He could hold her every day and tell her how much he loved her instead of the phone call he managed to get in once a week if he was lucky. **

**He thought long and hard, all while knowing in the back of his mind what his choice was going to be. **

**He had a passion for Quidditch, but they were his family. Family is worth more than some game ever would be. His decision was final.**

**He flicked off the light and climbed under the ugly comforter. Tomorrow, he would tell his manager that he would be resigning at the end of the season. **

**Not a moment later, his eyes drifted closed and he fell into the first restful sleep he'd had in weeks. But before he slipped into his sleep, he thought to himself "Soon, Oliver. Soon." **

**The End!**

**Like it? Please review. This was kind of my side project from "I Hate You, I Love You", which isn't dead! I'm just having bad writer's block on it. The next chapter is halfway written, and I know how I want it to go, but it's easier to thing about than to actually write it. But please review this story!**


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